Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
November 12, 2014 In the Republic of Indonesia, a newly established commuter rail line in the Surabaya metropolitan area of the country’s province of East Java first went into service. (Surabaya is second only to Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, as that country’s largest city.) The introduction of the commuter service known as KA Jenggala... Continue Reading →
November 11, 1935 U.S. Army Air Corps Captains Albert W. Stevens and Orvil A. Anderson, traveling in the high-altitude helium balloon Explorer II, established a record altitude of 72,395 feet (22,066 meters) for manned balloons. This airborne journey took place in the skies above South Dakota. “Successful Flight into Stratosphere,” read the headline for an... Continue Reading →
November 9, 1967 The Poplar Street Bridge, which spans the Mississippi River and connects St. Louis, Missouri, with East St. Louis, Illinois, was officially opened to traffic. Missouri Highway News magazine reported at that time, “Clean of line but strong of sinew, the Bridge is a masterful blending of beauty and function.” This 2,164-foot (660-meter)-long structure, which... Continue Reading →
November 8, 1881 Aviation pioneer and spaceflight theorist Robert Esnault-Pelterie was born in Paris, France. With a strong background in engineering, he made major contributions to the origins of heavier-than-air flight in Europe during the first decade of the 20th century. In 1903, Esnault-Pelterie invented the aileron -- a movable airfoil that could be installed at the... Continue Reading →
November 5, 2018 The first fully integrated multimodal terminal in the Philippines was opened in the City of Parañaque in the country’s National Capital Region. The National Capital Region (also known as Metro Manila) encompasses 16 cities – including Parañaque and the country’s capital of Manila – on Luzon, the largest and most populous of... Continue Reading →
November 4, 1895 At a time when bicycling had reached unprecedented levels of popularity throughout the United States, a facility for devotees of that transportation mode was opened in the vicinity of Richmond, Virginia. The official dedication of the Lakeside Wheel Club, a one-story structure located approximately five miles (8.1 kilometers) north of Virginia’s state... Continue Reading →
November 3, 1986 In the Canadian province of Quebec, Côte-Vertu station in Montreal’s borough of Saint-Laurent first went into service as part of the underground rapid transit system known as the Montreal Metro. At the time of its opening, this station replaced Du Collège station as the western terminus for the Montreal Metro’s Orange Line.... Continue Reading →
November 1, 1876 In the Netherlands, the North Sea Canal was officially opened by the nation’s monarch King William III. The Dutch waterway, which extends from the Netherlands’ capital of Amsterdam to the North Sea at the city of IJmuiden, was built to allow seafaring vessels to more easily reach the Port of Amsterdam. The... Continue Reading →
October 29, 1983 Nearly a half-century after its debut, the streamlined electric locomotive known as the GG1was retired from active service once and for all. The GG1 era formally ended when New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit) – the last operator of that class of locomotives – ran a series of farewell trips between the borough... Continue Reading →
October 28, 2008 A new version of the influential and time-honored Blue Bird All American school bus was unveiled at the trade show of the National Association for Pupil Transportation annual conference in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. These buses are manufactured by the Blue Bird Corporation, which is based in Fort Valley, Georgia, and traces its... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 